New restaurant openings continue, especially in Cape Town. Cape Town ‘s most successful restaurant opening, Locanda Restaurant at Villa 47 on Bree Street, has been followed by the opening of its new Stuzzico bar and small plate restaurant! Interesting news is Chef Ivor Jones’ departure from The Test Kitchen and his future plans (see POSTSCRIPT below). Mulberry & Prince is an exciting new New York-inspired restaurant.

We update information about newly opened and closed restaurants continuously.

Restaurant Openings

# Mulberry & Prince has opened on the corner of Bree and Pepper Street, with owners American Cynthia Rivera and local Cornel Mostert (photograph)

# Chef Luke Dale-Roberts opened Naturalis as an ‘incubation hub’, for lunches, and a venue for occasional dinners and events. (NOTE: Naturalis is currently closed for lunches, and will re-open as a Wine Bar in the evenings when it has received its liquor licence).

# Melissa’s is opening in Franschhoek in May, and in Camps Bay later this year.

# Charango Grill & Bar Peruvian restaurant is to become a franchise operation.

# Chef David Higgs is opening his 250-seater Marble restaurant in Rosebank in Johannesburg in May, with business partner Gary Kyriakou. Chef Werner Spöhr has joined them, as has Wikus Human, the new Wine & Associate Manager.

# Tiger’s Milk is to open in the SanClare Building in Claremont, in Century City, in Stellenbosch, in Bryanston in Johannesburg, and in Dubai.

# Mon Desir has opened in Hermanus.

# Springfontein Bar(n) has opened outside Stanford, at Springfontein, serving German bar food.

# Bread & Butter Co has opened in Paarl

# Chef Bertus Basson is renovating Overture in winter 2017.

# Yours Truly has opened new branches on Hout Street and on Loop Street.

# Raya Kitchen by Kitima has opened in the city centre.

# The Kove Collection has opened Dalliance Restaurant & Bar in the V&A Waterfront

# Floreal Brasserie has opened at Marianne Wine Estate in Stellenbosch

# Manor House Restaurant has opened on the Stanford Valley Guest Farm.

# A most interesting rumour is that Chefs Liam Tomlin and Ivor Jones are to jointlyopen a restaurant at The Silo hotel development in the V&A Waterfront. The Silo website states that the hotel is due to open in March 2017, and that it will have the Rooftop Restaurant, Rooftop Champagne Bar, and The Silo Café as its offering. Chef Ivor has already left The Test Kitchen. Interesting is the implication for The Test Kitchen in the 2016 Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards!

# Baked Bistro is opening a second branch, on Regent Road in Sea Point in June.

# Idiom Wines is opening its new Restaurant and Wine tasting room in June.

# Papa San, previously of Takumi, is opening his own restaurant Obi in conjunction with Ben Bettendorf on Long Street in July.

# The Catch Fish & Chips has opened in Hout Bay.

# Cheyne’s is opening a cocktail sake bar.

Restaurant Closures

# Rafiki’s has closed down.

# Takumi has closed down

# TheFlagship in Simonstown, formerly the restaurant of the late Bruce Robinson, has closed.

# Tuscany Beach in Camps Bay is closed for renovations. The new restaurant The 41 will open in November.

# Ranoushe restaurant has closed down, after only three months!

# Crisp in Franschhoek has closed, to make space for the new Woolworths.

# Freres Bistro has been sold, and is currently closed.

# Active Sushi in Portside on Bree Street has closed.

# Chandani has closed.

# Dudley’sLarder in McGregor has stopped trading.

# BorageBistro will close down at its Bree Street premises on 13 May, to relocate to new premises, and reopen in September.

# Dropkick Murphy has closed down on Kloof Street.

Restaurant changes

# La Parada and Harbour House are opening in the former Constantia Nek restaurant building.

# The Salmon Bar has closed temporarily, until it can find new premises in Franschhoek.

# Breakaway Café has opened where Keenwä used to be

# Reuben’s Franschhoekwill move to new premises when its lease expires, and its space is to become a Woolworths. It will close for renovations at the end of May, and reopens at its new location at 2 Daniel Hugo Street in September. They will operate a pop-up restaurant at the Riffel-owned Racine at Chamonix in June and July.

# OYO at V&A Hotel will close in May, for a few months, for a complete renovation.

# Dropkick Murphys has opened on Kloof Street, where GourmetBoerie used to be.

# The Stack will re-open mid-2016, after renovations due to fire damage.

# The Harbour House Group is to take over The Grand Camps Bay.

# Chef Johann Breedt has bought Viva Cafêin Green Point, which is to be renamed Bernie’s.

# SMAK Deli has opened where Tribakery used to be, on Bree Street.

# YouareThere has opened on Regent Road in Sea Point.

# Maggie’s Café has opened in Green Point, where 65 on Main operated, owned by Chef Riaan Burger, previously of Mondiall.

# Sababa has changed the name of its Bree Street branch back to its original name, after trading as Olami for a short while.

# Tiger’s Milk Smokehouse is opening where Emily’s used to be on Kloof Street.

# Chef’s Warehouse’s Streetfood has closed, and has been replaced by their No Reservations Bar!

# The Long Table Restaurant and Café at Haskell Vineyards closed on 27 March, and will re-open after 4 – 6 weeks of renovation, upgrade, and general maintenance, to be run by the winery itself when it re-opens.

# La Cuccina is to open an outlet in the former Andiamo in the ‘old’ Cape Quarter.

# Strolla is the new restaurant in the Peninsula All-Suite Hotel, operated by the notorious Brendon Crew

# Kan10 has opened in De Warenmarkt, offering lunches, ‘grab-and-go’, and dinners, with Chefs Nic van Wyk and Westley Muller.

# Rivendell Restaurant has moved to the Wine Tasting venue on the wine estate.

# Chef Liam Tomlin is on a major expansion spree. He is taking over and renovating the former Takumi space as an Indian tapas bar, on two floors, opening in about three months. His chef Sheldon Raju will head up the (as yet unnamed) restaurant, and the project partner is Dimo Papa Christodoulou of Fat Cactus and Long Street Cafe. They will not take reservations.

# Chef Warwick Taylor, ex Creation, is opening SOURCE restaurant in Hermanus, where Season and Biga used to operate.

# The Village Tart has opened where Gideon’s Pancakes used to be in Franschhoek.

# Chef Eric Bulpitt and his team is leaving The Restaurant at Newton Johnson at the end of September, and is opening at Avondale on 1 November.

Chef and Restaurant staff changes

# Chef Lucas Carstens of Cuvée has moved to Makaron, with Chef Pete Goffe-Wood appointed as Consultant.

# Chef Ryan Shell is now at Vergenoegd wine estate.

# Carolize Coetzee is the new chef at Cuvee at Simonsig.

# Chef Andres Condé has left the Harbour House Group, and returned to Spain.